Game: Covert Action

Thread: Re: First play with the game group

BobKo — 2008-09-19T23:11:23+00:00

I can't figure out how to play this game?

Thread: Re: First play with the game group

Gamer_Dog — 2008-07-06T16:54:38+00:00

I have also tried this game, and I have a few comments.

First, to a purely analytical gamer, this game appears to offer nothing. You really don't have enough information to act, and logically, anything anyone does should not be believed as they would have a motive to deceive.

However, with the right group of people this game is very good. Why? Because it's not an analytical game at all. It's purely psychological. What you're trying to do, is deduce from their behavior, what their real intentions are. In poker, this is similar to looking for "tells". It's a game that really tests intuition and observation. I also think the scoring mechanism for this type of game is quite good.

Thread: First play with the game group

ikiru — 2008-06-03T20:30:13+00:00

So...Jason H had a chance to get this game and we decided that it was about the right time of the day to get to the table. No one had ever played before. The participants:

Jason P - War/Ameritrash gamer. Can't resist a game of epic proportions. Will not play auction games.
Janette - Gravitates towards the conflict games. Big fan of games where you can load up and shoot someone.
Lisa - Big fan of the american party style game. If it has more than 4 rules, count her out
Misty - Light Eurogamer. Loves games where she can be a traitor.
Corey - The consumate whatever gamer. Excels in games where conflict abounds.
Gretchen - Eurogamer.
Jason H - Eurogamer. Stays away from area control. Loves auction games.
Melissa - Light Eurogamer. Prefers to learn games by just playing. Verbal instructions give her tired-head.
Me - Light Eurogamer with wargame/ameritrash tendencies. Somehow, I have been craving dice games.

We began the session explaining the rules. There aren't very many rules in this game, but a lot of people had problems with the 'who is supposed to shoot who' and the 'what do we need to do'. I admit that the game is pretty vague, perhaps on purpose. Its all open discussion and, the way I like to put it, when someone gets annoyed, they fire and end the round.

The first round started with the characters getting handed out. I was the sniper for the blue team. I had a feeling that everyone knew what the sniper looked like and did, but may not be so keen on what everyone else did or even looked like. So I watched the players on the other team to see if they would consult the rules or the player aid. My intuition payed off as announced that I was shooting the only player on their team that didn't look at the rules (well, Jason H did not look at the rules, but he was so intent on someone from our team to shoot him...so I ruled him out as being the sniper). My target was Corey. While he wasn't the sniper, he was the cleaner. It turned out that the sniper was one of the extra cards not dealt out. So, I guess a little intuition mixed with luck netted the blue team (and red mole) some cards.

The next round was not so intuitive. Janette was the red sniper and Corey was saying that he was the blue sniper. I don't know if there was a Princess Bride ("knowing that you know this, I could not possibly be the Sniper") moment going on in Janette's head for a brief second, but she decided to shoot Corey anyway. Unfortunately, Corey was not the sniper and the blue team got cards.

That was it for the interesting parts of this game. Basically the game devolved into people trying to be clever and others just watching. Then, someone would get annoyed or impatient and pull the trigger. Sometimes, people would not even look at their cards, as they felt it really didn't matter at this point. Janette even got up once to get a snack and a whole round went by without her doing anything.

In the end, Gretchen was the winner, although she never fired a shot, never got fired at, never did anything to progress the game. Good for her.

This game tries to be Werewolf, but lacks the charm that Werewolf has. For typical gamers, this game might be a bit rough considering that it takes a lot of social skills to get people "in to it". I kind of wish that there was something else going on to help clue people in on what people may be what. Perhaps another mechanic, or a goal the teams work towards.

Im not looking forward to breaking this out again. I suppose we should be grateful that this game is cheap.

-ikiru

*enjoy the sauce*

Thread: Re: Rules Online

martin47 — 2008-05-23T16:15:49+00:00

Does anyone know how rules cahnge when you play with 3 teams?

Thread: Re: Rules Online

D0NK1J0T3 — 2008-05-23T13:49:09+00:00

You can read this in spanish http://www.labsk.org/index.php?topic=19986.0

Thread: Rules Online

hvddrift — 2008-05-23T12:27:19+00:00

Hi,

Are the rules available online anywhere?

Thanks

hansvanderdrift@gmail.com

Thread: Online shop in Europe to buy this?

kabutor — 2008-05-18T20:35:10+00:00

You know, order some 6$ game from USA can be a pain in the pocket

Thread: Re: A Clever Game of Cat and also Cat

docreason — 2008-05-09T04:08:23+00:00

Continental Drift wrote:
ctalbot wrote:
Are the PLAN cards dealt randomly so that it could take you several winning rounds to actually get all the cards you need or do you take the letters in order as you win rounds?

The PLAN cards are random. When we first tried just playing to a score, like to five points, it changed the game in weird ways once a teammate of yours had four points and you didn't. In that situation, you didn't want your team to win. That was no good.

So each player on the winning team gets a random card. You might win with just four cards, or you might end up winning only after drawing ten of them. Since the cards are hidden, the end of the game is a surprise but generally goes to the player who has won the most rounds. A very simple mechanism, and not very interesting, but it met all the design criteria. Really, I don't pay attention much to the scoring, I just want to try to win each round, and the scoring works for that. At least, it doesn't get in the way.

The game is meant to play quick and have fun. It isn't a game meant to be taken that seriously, just enjoyed A LOT. The PLAN cards fit that. I am tempted to put this game up with CA$H N GUNS in the general fun mayhem category.

Thread: Re: A Clever Game of Cat and also Cat

Continental Drift — 2008-03-16T04:43:20+00:00

ctalbot wrote:
Are the PLAN cards dealt randomly so that it could take you several winning rounds to actually get all the cards you need or do you take the letters in order as you win rounds?

The PLAN cards are random. When we first tried just playing to a score, like to five points, it changed the game in weird ways once a teammate of yours had four points and you didn't. In that situation, you didn't want your team to win. That was no good.

So each player on the winning team gets a random card. You might win with just four cards, or you might end up winning only after drawing ten of them. Since the cards are hidden, the end of the game is a surprise but generally goes to the player who has won the most rounds. A very simple mechanism, and not very interesting, but it met all the design criteria. Really, I don't pay attention much to the scoring, I just want to try to win each round, and the scoring works for that. At least, it doesn't get in the way.

Thread: Re: A Clever Game of Cat and also Cat

ctalbot — 2008-03-07T14:32:37+00:00

docreason wrote:
I know people were doing absolutely stupid questions like, "Are you the mole?" I mean, sheesh. Ok, I guess it was a way to judge my reaction. But seriously, how does a mole answer that?
To quote some Werewolf players: Some people don't like to lie ... or are just really bad at it. I played Werewolf with a guy at Origins a couple of years back who would look right into your eyes and ask "are you a werewolf?" He was really good at finding werewolves.

Anyway, I like Werewolf but would like something similar that works without a GM. This game sounds like it might be what I'm looking for.

Are the PLAN cards dealt randomly so that it could take you several winning rounds to actually get all the cards you need or do you take the letters in order as you win rounds?

Chris

Thread: Re: A Clever Game of Cat and also Cat

docreason — 2008-02-25T08:19:40+00:00

shieldwolf wrote:
Couple of questions. How does this game play out. In your experience is it a lot of table talk or is it strickly just who can shoot first

To play well, you need to probe, ask questions, posture and fake a bunch. This is to get clues as to who is whom. This is particularly true for the Cleaner, who has to determine if his team has a sniper.

All this talk leads to table talk that is fun.

Let me give you one example from a game I played. Here I am, I am the sniper on my team. I have someone on my team blabbing to people to have them shoot me. Well, taken as a sure sign, I shoot him. His is the mole for the team, and our team wins. That was SO rewarding.

I know people were doing absolutely stupid questions like, "Are you the mole?" I mean, sheesh. Ok, I guess it was a way to judge my reaction. But seriously, how does a mole answer that?

Thread: Re: A Clever Game of Cat and also Cat

Bartoneus — 2008-02-14T13:53:52+00:00

Sorry it took me a month to notice the comments here, Marshall already pretty well summed it up though.

The only time I've EVER experienced someone shooting without at least a little table talk is when my wife plays. She enjoys the game more than werewolf, but she still takes to shooting immediately whenever she gets the sniper and typically (not surprisingly) the target is almost always me. Worst part is so far the odds have worked out that most of the time she's right when she shoots me.

Real answer: there's always table talk, because it is a losing strategy to just shoot off the cuff because the odds are against you.

Thread: Re: A Clever Game of Cat and also Cat

dbmurph22 — 2008-01-19T18:40:25+00:00

mdp4828 wrote:
I'll also add that while it may support 4 to 14 players some numbers are definitely better than others. In my opinion the ideal numbers are 6 or 9. Two teams of three or three teams of three, both work really well. Teams of three work best because there are four roles per team, one of which is always removed from the round, leaving three in play. It's possible to add more bodyguards or take them out to accomodate other numbers, and this works ok. But I think it's definitely best with 6 or 9.

I agree on the 6 or 9 - or maybe 12?

We played with the Saboteur a little, too. Fun little role, but makes it pretty chaotic. The vendetta element is a little confusing, remembering that the Sab. functions like a bodyguard for that team if he doesn't plant (which is trying to kill that team's Sniper). When we had it in, the shots were flying around pretty good, since it adds an individual advantage, and in some setups we had with it, the odds to hit were pretty good.

I'd recommend the regular game with 6,9, or maybe 12 though like Marshall said.

Thread: Re: A Clever Game of Cat and also Cat

mdp4828 — 2008-01-13T03:25:40+00:00

I'll also add that while it may support 4 to 14 players some numbers are definitely better than others. In my opinion the ideal numbers are 6 or 9. Two teams of three or three teams of three, both work really well. Teams of three work best because there are four roles per team, one of which is always removed from the round, leaving three in play. It's possible to add more bodyguards or take them out to accomodate other numbers, and this works ok. But I think it's definitely best with 6 or 9.

Thread: Re: A Clever Game of Cat and also Cat

mdp4828 — 2008-01-13T03:21:49+00:00

shieldwolf wrote:
Couple of questions. How does this game play out. In your experience is it a lot of table talk or is it strickly just who can shoot first

I've played the game and I agree with this review. I enjoyed the game quite a bit. To answer your question, it's a lot of table talk. This game can bomb with players who clam up (just like werewolf can). The rounds are still pretty brief though, but that's part of the excitement. There's a palpable sense of tension knowing that a shot can ring out at any time and end the round. You really need players who get into the spirit of the game though.

I've found that the best approach is to interrogate your own teammates first. See what you can establish about their roles, maybe even establish that you don't have a mole on your team. As I got more experience I would always communicate with my teammates first.

Thread: Re: A Clever Game of Cat and also Cat

shieldwolf — 2008-01-12T19:44:24+00:00

Couple of questions. How does this game play out. In your experience is it a lot of table talk or is it strickly just who can shoot first

Thread: Re: A Clever Game of Cat and also Cat

CovertDad — 2008-01-03T15:55:09+00:00

I had to thumb this post, simply because of the Monarch quote...

Go Team Venture!

Thread: A Clever Game of Cat and also Cat

Bartoneus — 2008-01-03T14:13:33+00:00

Covert Action is at its core a VERY fun game. It will likely appeal the most to fans of games like Werewolf and Mafia, but new players can quickly get sucked into the fast-paced rounds. Players are dealt a card at random which designates their team and role on that team (team is open information, role is hidden). Each team has a Sniper (or a Cleaner who has to figure out if there is not a sniper and then act as one) whos objective is to shoot the other team's sniper. Each team may also have a mole, who is actually working against their team and wins only if the team they appear to be on loses. The sniper's team can also win if the Sniper shoots the mole that has infiltrated them.

Once the cards are dealt out a round commences until one player shoots another, then all roles are revealed and if the shot was successful (shooting another sniper or your mole) then that team wins the round and recieves P-L-A-N cards. Once one player has spelled out PLAN they win the game. Teams change every single round, so the more you help your team win the more likely you are to get enough cards to win.

The most interesting part is that there are no rules for how long or short a round has to last, it just happens that once the cards are dealt the round ends when someone shoots. Non-snipers who shoot only lose the round for their team, and a shot which hits a bodyguard is a failed shot (the teams who didn't shoot win the round). Possibly most impressive is that the game successfully supports between 4 and 14 players and can have either two or three teams. It is an excellent alternative to Werewolf because all players get to play for the whole game and you are much more likely to play an important role for your team, however the more complex gameplay may deter the more casual players in your group. Overall a very fun game and all of my friends seem to love playing it!

Thread: Re: Is this available yet?

grixnair — 2007-12-12T19:26:45+00:00

I hope someone posts a session report soon, my friend just got this and I'm very interested to see how this plays.

Thread: Re: Is this available yet?

davethegame — 2007-11-29T16:44:15+00:00

franchi wrote:
1) How does it handle 3 teams? In each round, is there a winner team and thus 2 losers, or 1 loser team and the other 2 win?

There could be either. If a team shoots correctly, than that team wins and the other 2 lose. If the team shoots incorrectly, it loses, and the other 2 win.

2) What is the maximum number of people that can play, with the cards in the box, with just 2 teams?

9.

Thread: Two questions

franchi — 2007-11-29T16:26:51+00:00

1) How does it handle 3 teams? In each round, is there a winner team and thus 2 losers, or 1 loser team and the other 2 win?

2) What is the maximum number of people that can play, with the cards in the box, with just 2 teams?

Thread: Re: Is this available yet?

Troxxxa — 2007-10-07T21:51:42+00:00

I ordered online (on R&R Games) and received my copy in 8/21.

Thread: Re: Is this available yet?

davethegame — 2007-09-25T04:59:27+00:00

It's out there- I know people who have gotten it from FunAgain orders. It might just be taking it a little longer to get through distribution to game stores.

Thread: Re: Is this available yet?

macls29 — 2007-09-24T12:24:14+00:00

Hi Josh,

I ordered it, but it hasn't arrived yet.

Rob

Thread: Is this available yet?

jostrand — 2007-09-24T03:49:36+00:00

I heard that this came out at GenCon. Did I hear wrong? I can't get this online or at my FLGS yet. Any news out there?

Thread: Don't play with Michael Scott!

Dan Manfredini — 2007-08-30T21:24:35+00:00

A round in this game can be over in a split second, especially if you've got someone who is trigger happy. And now, The Office...

Youtube Video

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Grey Dragon — 2007-08-18T05:26:20+00:00

Covert Action sub cards gencon 2007

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rnrgames — 2007-08-13T14:27:38+00:00

Back of box

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rnrgames — 2007-08-13T14:27:06+00:00

Box cover of Covert Action

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zombiegod — 2007-08-13T10:14:48+00:00